Causes of Racism in the United States

The United States of America is a multicultural nation. All races and cultures are almost represented in America. Considered as a nation of immigrants, this country has faced and still facing many racial issues from the Civil Right Movement till today. Racism and discrimination have always been the most discussed topics when it comes to any society problems. To understand this issue we should try to find the causes and then think of an appropriate ways to reduce them. What should government do to ensure equality of opportunity and also ensure equality of outcome, so that everyone would have the freedom to do what they want, when they want without being judge by the colors of their skin but by the outcome of their work?

“Slavery was a practice that existed in all cultures” (D’Souza, page 507). In Africa, for example slaves were war prisoners. They were used for the work in the farms and the plantations. They were also used for human sacrifices. Many cultures practiced slavery in the world. People were taken away from their parent and their countries and sent overseas. Crevecoeur said that: “African were torn from their friends and relations when delivered into the hand of people of different color”(Crevecoeur, page 475).The fact that slavery took an important turn in United States was because it was practiced by white people who were looking for free labor to develop the new nation and that involved millions of slaves. The slaves were mistreated and considered as property. According to Spalding: “The slaves were considered merely as property and in no respect whatever as persons” (Spalding, page 463).

Africans were used as slaves because they were strong and hard workers. They were sold and used for work without remuneration a...

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...aid that: “The great ambition of democracy was precisely to free people from atavistic power through a discipline of principles that would forbid it” (Steele, page 496).

Government should introduce a comprehensive racial equality policy. They should inform and educate the population about the laws through different campaigns and advertisements on the media. The cultural relativism should be promoted to help people understand that no race is superior or better than another. John Brittain believed that “Racism will never end; therefore society must continue to study it and devise new strategies to combat it” (Brittain, page 505).

Laws enforcement officers should also receive specific training so that they will know how to face people and treat them equally. They also have to make sure that people are respecting laws and that they are themselves respecting the laws.